Hi everyone! Last year my garden got totally wrecked by my beloved :D, & so I would like to get my husband to make a house & a run for her this spring. We keep throwing our own ideas around about how best to do it, well, you know things can get when you're thrashing things around so I figured I would ask my expert mates for their advice & for what has worked well for you. The situation that we have is that I have a retriever that loves to dig, so should we give her a grass patch at all- I say yes, for her fun. Not just slabs! Also, I would need strong fencing-what do you suggest? My girl has learned that if she throws herself at the back door it will burst open for her. She is responding to me training her to sit & then she's allowed in, but she could try it with a fence.  And! What have you used for a doghouse? Do you decide when your dog can go in & out of it? We wondered about how to make a door so that our girl go in & out of it as she pleases, but how to keep it draught free if you see what I mean. Im going to put all your nuggets of information in my basket & then when my hubby finally thinks Im really clever, I'll tell  him Champdoggers do it best! ;) Thank you in advance, Chez x

Hi Chez,

I have Goldens that love to chew and dig etc.What I have done and it works for us we have built a brick kennel as they are cooler in Summer and warmer in Winter from there is 2 popholes that leads into a large concrete enclosed run secured with Croft panels  the dogs have theeir toys etc in there and if we have visitors or children s friends round it's ideal.If we choose we leave the gate of the run open which leads on a very large patio area which will be Bradstoned next year (gravel at present)right up to our back door and the other end is another gate which is left closed this is the lawned area beyond ,at certain times they also have access to this area ,not in a wet winter.My patio has a koi pond which is raised and I can also put lots of tubs etc out but can be easily moved.By using the gates I can control how larger an area the dogs use.The dogs also come into the house.
They don't seem to mind the concrete or gravel very easy to clean .We do have 6 ft fences up and confer hedge kept also to this height.
I didn't need planning permission despite the kennels being brick built you would need to check with your local planning dept,but if you can do it I personally prefer them over a wooden shed as they tend to heat up  terribly in the Summer.We also have drainage chanels inside the kennels and run makes hosing down much easier.My dogs have raised beds in the Summer in the internal kennel and late Autumn through to Spring they are on shavings which they love to dig and play in.We also have large back room attached to the back of kennels for trimming and bathing the dogs and we also leave them in their as it has t.v etc the "doggy room"
So we think we have a happy medium where the dogs can have full access to the garden when we or the children are out in the garden with them or we can choose area s for the dogs to be in knowing they are not digging up the lawn and jumping over the flower beds etc
Hope we have given you some ideas.

Regards Briony:-)

Hi,

Also I've used double glazing for the door of my kennels and the window is also this.The pop hole can be opened or closed from the outside in a littele cupboard and lockable.The dogs at present are sleeping in my utility room in the house doing some work on kennels .We let them out in the run throguhout the day have access to the sections of the garden depends what we are doing.But soon they will sleep out in their kennels and i'll open the popholes 1st thing in the morning.My dogs are queing to see who can get to the kennels the fastest in the morning at present.Eventually our run will be covered and pantiled like the kennels.

Briony:-)

Thank You Briony! Your reply is very useful to me. Your set up sounds great. I am looking forward to getting on with things in the near future & its good to hear what has worked well for others & not make any mistakes in ignorance if it can be helped! Regards, Chez.